Japanese journalist detained in Myanmar

Myanmar authorities have detained a Japanese journalist, Yuki Kitazumi, after picking him up from his home in Yangon, news reports said on Monday. He was asked to raise both hands and was taken away in a car, it said. The Japanese Embassy could not be immediately contacted.

Myanmar authorities have detained a Japanese journalist, Yuki Kitazumi, after picking him up from his home in Yangon, news reports said on Monday. BBC Burmese quoted a witness as saying the reporter was taken into custody by troops on Sunday night. He was asked to raise both hands and was taken away in a car, it said.

The Japanese Embassy could not be immediately contacted. A spokesman for the junta did not respond to calls asking for comment. Kitazumi runs a media production company, Yangon Media Professionals, and used to be a journalist with the Nikkei business daily, according to his Facebook page and interviews with online media.

He was arrested previously in February while covering protests against the Feb. 1 coup but was released soon after. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group, 737 people have been killed by security forces since the coup, and 3,229 remain in detention.